Meanings of green

Advocates of green energy constantly butt up against the law of unintended consequences. Some of these collisions result from inventive or even fanciful thinking — for example, the assertion a few years ago that Hummers technically are greener than Priuses (because Hummers don’t require damaging mining operations to produce the components of hybrid batteries), and the contention that ethanol is more harmful than conventional gasoline because it produces less energy per gallon and requires fossil-fuel energy to produce, and also generates more smog-producing emissions. I happen to believe the second one. The Hummer-Prius analogy is a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, the law of unintended consequences is hard at work on two fronts this week — one in a good way, the other not so good. Both were chronicled in recent editions of The Wall Street Journal.

Satellites are now confirming that the amount of green vegetation on the planet has been increasing for three decades. … What explains this trend? Man-made nitrogen fertilizer causes crops to grow faster, but it is having little effect on forests. There are essentially two possibilities: climate and carbon dioxide itself. Warmer, wetter weather should cause more vegetation to grow. But even without warming, an increase in carbon dioxide should itself accelerate growth rates of plants. CO2 is a scarce resource that plants have trouble scavenging from the air, and plants grow faster with higher levels of CO2 to inhale.

So, if I may indulge in a bit of original poetry … plant a tree, then feed it with your SUV.

2. In Los Angeles, greens had the bright idea of encouraging people to buy electric and plug-in hybrid cars by letting people with such vehicles park at LAX Airport’s most convenient parking lots for free. They also provided 38 charging stations. But Angelenos are feuding. Folks who have Chevrolet Volts or plug-in Toyota Priuses are at war with owners of Nissan Leafs and other all-electric models. Volts and Priuses can be recharged but don’t have to be, since they have gasoline engines. If you drive your Leaf 50 or 60 miles to the airport and leave it there, chances are it won’t get out of the parking lot by the time you get back unless you’ve recharged it.

Hannah Karp explains:

Tension is rising between all-electric-car drivers, who say they actually need to charge their vehicles daily, and hybrid owners who can get away without doing so because their cars can run on gas as well.

Some electric-vehicle owners say the airport should expand its free-parking program to cover all eight of its short-term lots, not just the two with charging stations. Others want valets to ensure all the electric cars get to recharge. But the airport announced on its website this week that electric-vehicle drivers will have to start paying normal parking fees in March, and began leaving warning fliers on parked electric cars.

So much for that happy little green world the environmentalists envisioned as they mused over their array of incentives and mandates. But at least the world is, literally, greener — thanks to the folks who burn coal, wood, oil, natural gasoline and gasoline, and no thanks to the greens.